Systems and methods for providing real-time payment recommendations and offers

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for providing a recommended payment account includes receiving location information from a mobile device of a user having one or more payment accounts provided by a financial institution computer system, and determining a location of the user relative to a merchant based on the location information. The method also includes, based on the location of the user relative to the merchant, determining that a payment account recommendation should be sent to the user, including a recommended payment account for use in a payment transaction with the merchant and an incentive offer for using the recommended payment account in the payment transaction, determining the recommended payment account based on an expected financial impact to the user, generating the incentive offer, and sending the incentive offer and the recommended payment account to the mobile device of the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/886,152 filed on May 28, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/732,336 filed on Jun. 5, 2015, the entireties ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of paymentaccounts. More specifically, the present invention relates to systemsand methods for providing real-time offers and recommendations toaccount holders regarding use of a payment account to make a paymenttransaction.

BACKGROUND

Payments for products and services are often completed using creditcards, debit cards, checks or other payment accounts. A user having morethan one payment account may choose a particular payment account forinitiating a payment based on a variety of factors, includingconvenience, an available cash balance, an available credit balance, auser reward or offer associated with the payment account, and so on.However, the user may be unable to quickly and efficiently weigh each ofthe factors involved in choosing a payment account for payment,particularly in real-time. Thus, the user may be unaware of a betteroffer or reward until after the payment has been made.

Further, the user of the payment accounts often carries some type ofmobile handheld electronic device, such as a cellular phone, smartphone, mobile handheld wireless e-mail device, personal digitalassistant, or portable gaming device. The mobile device can be used toaccess payment account information and receive various communicationsfrom an associated financial institution. However, the informationprovided to the user of the mobile device may not be to sufficient toenable the user to select, in real time, the most beneficial paymentaccount for making a payment.

SUMMARY

One embodiment of the present disclosure relates to acomputer-implemented method performed by one or more processors of afinancial institution computer system. The method includes receiving, bythe financial institution computer system, location information from amobile device of a user having one or more payment accounts provided bythe financial institution computer system, determining, by the financialinstitution computer system, a location of the user relative to amerchant based on the location information, based on the location of theuser relative to the merchant, determining, by the financial institutioncomputer system, that a payment account recommendation should be sent tothe user, including a recommended payment account for use in a paymenttransaction with the merchant and an incentive offer for using therecommended payment account in the payment transaction, determining, bythe financial institution, the recommended payment account from the oneor more payment accounts based on an expected financial impact to theuser, generating, by the financial institution computer system, theincentive offer, and sending, by the financial institution computersystem, the incentive offer and the recommended payment account to themobile device of the user.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a financialinstitution computer system. The financial institution computer systemincludes a server system that includes a processor and instructionsstored in non-transitory machine-readable media. The instructions areconfigured to cause the server system to receive location informationfrom a mobile device of a user having one or more payment accountsprovided by the financial institution computer system, determine alocation of the user relative to a merchant based on the locationinformation, based on the location of the user relative to the merchant,determine that a payment account recommendation should be sent to theuser, including a recommended payment account for use in a paymenttransaction with the merchant and an incentive offer for using therecommended payment account in the payment transaction, determine therecommended payment account from the one or more payment accounts basedon an expected financial impact to the user, generate the incentiveoffer, and transmit the incentive offer and the recommended paymentaccount to the mobile device of the user.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure relates to acomputer-implemented method performed by one or more processors of afinancial institution computer system to promote use of a paymentaccount provided by the financial institution computer system. Themethod includes identifying, by the financial institution computersystem, a preferred merchant of a user having one or more paymentaccounts provided by the financial institution computer system, whereinthe preferred merchant is identified based on a user profile of theuser, and wherein the user profile is based at least in part on pasttransactions of the user using the one or more payment accounts,determining, by the financial institution computer system, a location ofthe user based on a location of a mobile device of the user, based onthe location of the user, determining, by the financial institutioncomputer system, that the user is within a predetermined distance of thepreferred merchant, determining, by the financial institution computersystem, a recommended payment account from the one or more paymentaccounts for making a payment at the preferred merchant, and generating,by the financial institution computer system, an incentive offer forusing the recommended payment account to make the payment at thepreferred merchant and transmitting the recommended payment account andthe incentive offer to the mobile device.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure relates to acomputer-implemented method performed by one or more processors of afinancial institution computer system to promote use of a paymentaccount provided by the financial institution computer system. Themethod includes receiving, by the financial institution computer system,a request from a mobile device of a user to send a payment accountrecommendation to the mobile device when the mobile device is proximatea preferred merchant of the user, wherein the user has one or morepayment accounts provided by the financial institution computer system,generating, by the financial institution computer system, a user profilefor the user based on user preferences and past transaction informationof the user received from the mobile device, receiving, by the financialinstitution computer system, beacon discovery information from themobile device, determining, by the financial institution computersystem, that the mobile device is proximate the preferred merchant basedon receipt of the beacon discovery information, upon determining thatthe mobile device is proximate the preferred merchant, determining, bythe financial institution computer system, a recommended payment accountfrom the one or more payment accounts for making a payment to thepreferred merchant, wherein the recommended payment account isdetermined based on the user profile, and sending, by the financialinstitution computer system, the recommended payment account to themobile device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,aspects, and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from thedescription, the drawings, and the claims, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a payment rewards system, according toan example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a payment rewards process that may beimplemented using the system shown in FIG. 1 , according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a user interface that may be presented on a display of themobile device shown in FIG. 1 to enable a user to configure paymentpreferences, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a user interface that may be presented on the display of themobile device shown in FIG. 1 to enable the user to configure preferredmerchants, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a payment account recommendationprocess that may be implemented using the system shown in FIG. 1 ,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another payment account recommendationprocess that may be implemented using the system shown in FIG. 1 ,according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before turning to the figures which illustrate example embodiments, itshould be understood that the application is not limited to the detailsor methodology set forth in the following description or illustrated inthe figures. It should also be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein is for the purpose of description only andshould not be regarded as limiting.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a payment rewards system 100 is shown, accordingto an example embodiment. The payment rewards system 100 may be used torecommend (e.g., promote, incentivize, etc.) use of a particular paymentaccount (i.e., financial account or other financial product) to make apayment based on the financial health of a user (i.e., an accountholder). The recommendations may be based on financial informationreceived from the user, including transaction information and userpreferences. The recommended payment accounts may be provided to theuser based on proximity of the user (e.g., a mobile device of the user)to preferred merchants and service providers of the user. The paymentrewards system 100 may also be used to provide incentives for use of aparticular payment method. For instance, the payment rewards system 100may be at least partially operated by a financial institution. As partof the payment rewards system 100, the financial institution may offerincentives (e.g., discounts, rewards, promotions, etc.) to the user foruse of a payment account provided by the financial institution to make apayment.

The payment rewards system 100 may include, among other systems, amobile device 110 (i.e., an account holder computer system), a financialinstitution computer system 130, and a merchant computer system 160. Inan example embodiment, the systems are each owned and operated by aseparate entity. In other embodiments, two or more systems may becombined to operate as a single system, or two or more systems may beowned or operated by a single entity. The systems may include a computersystem (e.g., one or more servers each with one or more processingcircuits) configured to execute instructions, send and receive datastored in memory, and perform other operations to implement theoperations described herein or associated with logic or processes shownin FIG. 2 .

The mobile device 110, the financial institution computer system 130,and the merchant computer system 160 may each include a processor andmemory. The processors may be implemented as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), one or more field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), a group of processing components, or other suitable electronicprocessing components. The memory may be one or more devices (e.g., RAM,ROM, Flash memory, hard disk storage, etc.) for storing data and/orcomputer code for completing and/or facilitating the various processesdescribed herein. The memory may be or include non-transient volatilememory, non-volatile memory, and non-transitory computer storage media.The memory may include data base components, object code components,script components, or any other type of information structure forsupporting the various activities and information structures describedherein. The memory may be communicably connected to the processor andinclude computer code or instructions for executing one or moreprocesses described herein.

The mobile device 110, the financial institution computer system 130,and the merchant computer system 160 may communicate through a network180. The network 180 may be a single communication network configured tocommunicatively connect each of the systems, or the network 180 mayinclude a plurality of networks each connecting two or more systems. Thenetwork 180 may be a wired or wireless network, including one or more ofthe Internet, a cellular network, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, a proprietary bankingnetwork, Bluetooth®, near filed communication (NFC), and so on. Further,the network 180 may refer to more than one method of communication thatmay be utilized by the systems to interact as part of the paymentrewards system 100.

The mobile device 110 may be used by an individual user (e.g., abusiness owner or employee, a consumer, and so on) to access the network180 and communicate with the financial institution computer system 130.The mobile device 110 may be, for example, a cellular phone, smartphone, mobile handheld wireless e-mail device, personal digitalassistant, portable gaming devices, or other suitable device configuredto access the network 180. In an example embodiment, the user of themobile device 110 is an account holder having a relationship with thefinancial institution computer system 130. For instance, the financialinstitution computer system 130 may provide one or more payment accounts(i.e., financial accounts or other financial products) to the accountholder. The financial institution computer system 130 may also enablethe account holder to add or cancel payment accounts, to modify (e.g.,increase) lines of credit, to apply for loans, and so on.

The mobile device 110 includes a network interface 112, a display 114,and an input 116. The network interface 112 may be a wireless networkinterface that communicates with a wireless communication protocol(e.g., 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, CDMA, GSM, LTE, WiMax, NFC,etc.). The network interface 112 may include, for example, program logicthat connects the mobile device 110 to the network 180. As described ingreater detail below, the mobile device 110 may receive and displayscreens including account information, user profile information, rewardsoffers, payment method recommendations, and so on. Such screens may beused to prompt the user to provide information regarding a user payment,including a selected merchant or payment account for processing thepayment, as well as financial information that may be used to build andupdate a financial health profile for the user. Such screens arepresented to the user via the display 114. Examples of such screens areshown in FIGS. 3 and 4 . The input 116 may be used to permit the user toinitiate account access and to facilitate receiving requestedinformation from the user. In some arrangements, the display 114 andinput 116 are integrated in a touchscreen display. As will beappreciated, in addition to or instead of the mobile device 110, usersmay also be provided with the ability to access the payment rewardssystem 100 using another type of computer (e.g., a desktop or laptopcomputer executing browser software, an in-store point-of-sale (POS)computer system, etc.) to perform the operations described herein asbeing performed by the mobile device 110.

The mobile device 110 also includes a processor 118 and a memory 120.The memory 120 includes programming modules and logic that, whenexecuted by the processor 118, control the operation of the mobiledevice 110. For instance, the mobile device 110 also includes a paymentrewards client application 122 (e.g., mobile banking application, mobilewallet application, web browser, a merchant-specific application linkedto the financial institution, etc.), which may be stored on memory 120.The payment rewards client application 122 may comprise program logicexecutable by the mobile device 110 to implement at least some of thefunctions described herein. As will be appreciated, the level offunctionality that resides on the mobile device 110 as opposed to thefinancial institution computer system 130 or the merchant computersystem 160 may vary depending on the implementation. The payment rewardsclient application 122 may simply be a web browser that is configured toreceive and display mobile web pages received from the financialinstitution computer system 130 (e.g., web pages prompting the user toprovide payment information, web pages displaying payment rewardsoffers, etc.).

The payment rewards client application 122 includes locationdetermination logic 124, which may be stored on memory 120. The locationdetermination logic 124 may be executed to determine a location of themobile device 110. A user may opt-in to using the location determinationlogic 124 to receive targeted incentive offers for preferred merchants,as described below. In an example embodiment, the location determinationlogic 124 utilizes locator beacons (e.g., iBeacons) such as beacon 170to determine the location of the mobile device 110 relative to amerchant. In an example embodiment, beacon 170 is located at or near apreferred merchant. The beacon 170 is configured to broadcast discoverysignals and/or identification information that can be detected by themobile device 110 within a predetermined range of the merchant. In thisembodiment, the location determination logic 124 is configured todetermine the location of the mobile device 110 (and thus the user oraccount holder) based on the information broadcast by the beacon 170 anddetected by the mobile device 110. For instance, the payment rewardsclient application 122 may be configured to recognize the informationtransmitted by the beacon 170. The payment rewards client application122 may be triggered to open or start based on the beacon informationreceived at the mobile device 110. The beacon 170 and the broadcastedinformation are described in further detail below in reference to themerchant computer system 160.

In various embodiments, the location determination logic 124 may alsoutilize a satellite (GPS) sensor at the mobile device 110 or nearbycellular towers to determine the location coordinates of the mobiledevice 110. The satellite or cellular information may be usedindependent of the beacon discovery information or to supplementlocation information determined based on the received beacon discoveryinformation. The location determination logic 124 may also utilize NFCtechnology to determine the location coordinates of the mobile device110. For instance, the mobile device 110 may include an NFC tag (e.g.,smart tag, information tag, etc.) enabling two-way communication withanother mobile device or an in-store NFC device (e.g., an NFC reader) toapproximate the location of the mobile device 110. The NFC tag mayinclude a stored program for enabling two-way communication with anotherNFC-enabled device.

The location determination logic 124 may also utilize an indoorpositioning system (IPS) that can communicate precise location andmovement information relative to an enabled device (i.e., the mobiledevice 110). For instance, an IPS may include various anchor nodes(i.e., nodes with known positions) positioned within a merchant locationand configured to communicate with the mobile device 110. The anchornodes are configured to either actively locate the mobile device 110(e.g., a smart tag on the mobile device 110) or provide ambient locationor environmental context for the mobile device 110 to be sensed. The IPSmay utilize various optical, radio, and/or acoustic technology to locatethe mobile device 110. The IPS may be configured to measure a distancebetween the anchor node and the associated mobile device 110 todetermine the location of the mobile device 110 relative to a specificfloor within the merchant location, a location on the merchant floor, orto determine movement of the mobile device 110 within the merchantlocation.

The payment rewards client application 122 also includes accountselection logic 126 and merchant selection logic 128, which may beexecuted to perform various functions of the payment rewards clientapplication 122. The account selection logic 126 allows a user to choosea payment account for making a payment to an individual or entity suchas the merchant computer system 160. The user of the mobile device 110may select a default payment account that is used to make payments. Inan example embodiment, the default payment account is based on a paymentaccount recommended by the financial institution computer system 130.The merchant selection logic 128 allows the user to select a nearbymerchant for conducting a transaction. The merchant selection logic 128may also determine preferred merchants. The preferred merchants may beselected by the user or determined based on user preferences ortransaction history.

It should be noted that the payment rewards client application 122 canrefer to any application or web interface provided to the user via thefinancial institution computer system 130. In one embodiment, theapplication 122 may be a mobile banking application configured to allowthe user to securely access the financial institution website andinteract with various accounts held by the user. In this embodiment, thepayment rewards system 100 described herein is accessed via a paymentrewards area of the mobile banking site or application. The mobilebanking application may also enable the user to perform various othertasks or functions that could otherwise be performed using the financialinstitution website or at a branch location. Once a recommended paymentaccount for a transaction is provided to the user (e.g., via the mobiledevice 110), the user may initiate the payment using a traditionalpayment method (e.g., bank card, check, cash, credit card, ACH, etc.).

In another embodiment, the application 122 may be a mobile walletapplication configured to allow the user to make payments from accountsprovided by the financial institution computer system 130 using themobile device 110. In this embodiment, the user is able to interact withthe financial institution computer system 130 as described herein byaccessing a payment rewards section of the mobile wallet application.Further, when a recommendation is provided for a particular paymentaccount, the user may make a payment with the recommended paymentaccount using the mobile device 110. For instance, the mobile walletapplication may generate a payment code that may be scanned, transmittedvia NFC, or otherwise provided at a merchant point of sale to initiate apayment using one of the user payment accounts.

In other embodiments, the functions described herein with regard to thepayment rewards client application 122 may be performed absent thepayment rewards client application 122. For instance, the functionsdescribed herein may be performed via an online banking area associatedwith the financial institution computer system 130. The mobile device110 may also communicate with the financial institution computer system130 via text message, instant message, or another type of communicationmethod available via the mobile device 110.

The financial institution computer system 130 is configured to provideto the user of the mobile device 110 one or more financial accounts foruse in making a payment (i.e., payment accounts). The payment accountsmay include any type of financial account or other product that may beused to make a payment, such as credit cards or debit cards, checkingaccounts, gift cards, pre-paid cards, ACH payments, and the like.Information related to the payment accounts is stored in accountsdatabase 150. The financial institution computer system 130 isconfigured to recommend a particular payment account for use in making apayment when the user is in proximity to one or more merchants. Therecommendation may be based on a financial health of the user, includinguser preferences, transaction history, account(s) status, contemplatedpurchase(s), and any other information received or determined by thefinancial institution computer system 130. The financial institutioncomputer system 130 is also configured to provide incentive offers tothe user based on the payment accounts. For instance, the financialinstitution computer system 130 may promote a particular payment account(e.g., the recommended payment account) by providing an incentive offerapplicable to any payments made using the payment account. The incentiveoffer may also be based on a particular purchase category (e.g., drugs,food, gas, etc.) or merchant category (e.g., supermarket, gas station,drugstore, etc.).

The financial institution computer system 130 includes a processor 134and memory 136. In some arrangements, the financial institution computersystem 130 includes a plurality of processors. The memory 136 storesprogramming modules that, when executed by the processor 134, controlthe operation of the financial institution computer system 130. Forinstance, the financial institution computer system 130 includes messagesend logic 138, offer engine 142, account recommendation logic 140, userprofile logic 144, merchant profile logic 146, and account processinglogic 148. Such logic may be implemented in a machine (e.g., one or morenetworked computer servers) comprising machine-readable media (e.g.,memory 136) having instructions stored therein which are executed by themachine to perform the operations described herein. For instance, suchlogic may be implemented and executed to recommend a particular paymentaccount for a transaction, as well as generate and present an incentiveoffer to the user of the mobile device 110.

The financial institution computer system 130 also includes a networkinterface 132 that allows the financial institution computer system 130to communicate data to and from other devices and systems (e.g., mobiledevice 110, merchant computer system 160, etc.) described herein via thenetwork 180. The network interface 132 may include, for example, programlogic that connects the financial institution computer system 130 to thenetwork 180.

The message send logic 138 may be executed to determine when to send apayment message (i.e., a payment account recommendation and/or anincentive offer) to the mobile device 110. For instance, the messagesend logic 138 may be configured to anticipate a payment by the user andcause a payment message to be sent to the mobile device 110 when thepayment is anticipated. In various embodiments, the message send logic138 may anticipate a payment by the user based on any of a location ofthe mobile device 110 (i.e., the user), a relative movement of themobile device 110, occurrence of one or more events related to themobile device 110, or based on other information available to thefinancial institution computer system 130 (e.g., via the mobile device110). For instance, the message send logic 138 may cause a paymentmessage to be sent to the mobile device 110 when the mobile device 110(i.e., the user) is near a preferred merchant, product, or service. Inother embodiments, the message send logic 138 may determine that apayment message should be sent to the mobile device 110 in order toprompt a payment by the user, or based on any other factors describedherein.

In some embodiments, the message send logic 138 is configured todetermine a location of the mobile device 110 (e.g., a relativelocation). The message send logic 138 may determine the location of themobile device 110 based on information received from the mobile device110 (i.e., by the financial institution computer system 160). Forinstance, the relative location of the mobile device 110 may be receivedfrom the mobile device 110 (i.e., the location determination logic 124)via based on signals or other information received from the beacon 170.In one embodiment, the mobile device 110 receives discovery information(e.g., unique identifiers, sub-identifiers, signal strength, etc.) fromthe beacon 170 and determines (e.g., via the payment rewards clientapplication 122) a distance from the mobile device 110 to the beacon 170based on the discovery information. The mobile device 110 may alsodetermine a relative distance to a merchant or a product or service atthe merchant based on the discovery information. The mobile device 110may also utilize information from the financial institution computersystem 130 and the merchant computer system 160 to determine any of theabove.

In various embodiments, the mobile device 110 may also send locationinformation to the financial institution computer system 130 based on asatellite (GPS) sensor stored on the mobile device 110, or based oncellular data. The message send logic 138 may also utilize locationinformation received via the indoor positioning system (IPS), barcodes,or NFC technology. For instance, the message send logic 138 may utilizeany of the above location information to determine a precise location ofthe mobile device 110, the relationship of that location to a specificmerchant, service or product, a specific location of the mobile device110 within a merchant location, as well as movement of the mobile device110 within the merchant location. The financial institution computersystem 130 may receive the location information from the mobile device110 continuously, or in response to a request.

In an example embodiment, the message send logic 138 determines alocation of the mobile device 110 (i.e., the user) relative to apreferred merchant and sends a payment message to the mobile device 110based on proximity of the mobile device 110 to the preferred merchant(i.e., when the mobile device 110 is proximate the preferred merchant).For instance, the recommendation may be sent when the mobile device 110is within a predetermined distance (e.g., one mile) or time (e.g., fiveminutes walking or driving time) of a merchant location, or when themobile device 110 is at or within a merchant location. In an exampleembodiment, receipt of the beacon discovery information at the mobiledevice 110 provides an indication of the relative distance between themobile device 110 and a merchant location. In other embodiments, thelocation of the mobile device 110 and the merchant may be determinedseparately and a distance calculated based on the separate technologiesand determinations. The location of the merchant may be provided, forinstance, by location module 164 at the merchant computer system 160, ordetermined based on publicly available location information.

Similarly, the message send logic 138 may send a payment message to themobile device 110 based on the location of the mobile device 110 (i.e.,the user) relative to a preferred product or service. For example, thepayment message may be sent when the mobile device 110 is within apredetermined distance of, or at or within, a merchant location havingthe product or service available for sale. The payment message may alsobe sent when the mobile device 110 is within a predetermined distance ofthe product or service while within the merchant location. The productor service may be identified by the user as preferred or otherwiseselected by the user. For instance, the user may identify the product orservice using the mobile device, such as by manually inputting theproduct or service, or scanning a barcode or NFC tag related to theproduct. A preferred product or service may also be determined by themessage send logic 138 based on information stored in a user profile(e.g., past transactions, savings goals, user preferences, etc.). Thelocation of the product or service may be determined based oninformation received from the merchant computer system 160 or stored ina merchant profile. In other embodiments, locator beacons may be locatedat or near a particular product or service, and the mobile device 110may receive associated beacon discovery information when the mobiledevice 110 is proximate the product or service.

The message send logic 138 may also send a payment message based on aduration of time spent by the user at or near a merchant location, or ator near a product or service located within the merchant location. Forinstance, based on location information received from the mobile device110 or the IPS implementation of the merchant, the message send logic138 may determine a duration of time that the user has been at or near(e.g., within) a merchant location. The time duration may be calculatedbased on the location information received from the mobile device 110and/or the merchant computer system 160. When the time duration at ornear a particular location reaches a predetermined threshold (e.g., 15minutes, 30 minutes, etc.), the message send logic 138 may send apayment message to the mobile device 110, which may include an offerincentive to use a recommended payment account. Similarly, the messagesend logic 138 may send a payment message to the mobile device 110 whenthe mobile device 110 is within a predetermined distance from a productor service for a predetermined duration of time. The payment message mayalso include an offer that is set to expire after a period of time,which may or may not be equal to the predetermined duration of time.

The message send logic 138 may also send a payment message to the mobiledevice 110 based on the occurrence of an event, such as an event whichtypically precipitates a purchase (i.e., a payment). For instance, themessage send logic 138 may send a payment message to the mobile device110 based on an upcoming birthday, anniversary, or other gift-relateddate associated with the user. Any incentive offer may then be relatedto a merchant or product associated with the recurring event, such asthe purchase of a gift for a birthday. The date of the recurring eventmay be provided as an input by the user or otherwise stored in the userprofile. Similarly, the message send logic 138 may also send anincentive offer to the mobile device 110 based on recurring purchases orpayments, such as an oil change or a periodic loan payment.

The message send logic 138 may also send a payment message to the mobiledevice 110 based on a request received from the user. The user requestmay include a selected merchant, a selected or desired product orservice, an amount of the purchase, and other information related to apayment. For instance, the user may request a payment message related toa selected merchant. Any incentive offer provided may then be related tothe selected merchant and provide a nearby location for the selectedmerchant, as well as directions from the location of the mobile device110 to the selected merchant. The user may also request a paymentmessage for a specific product or service, or type of product orservice. The payment message may then include a list of merchants withina predetermined distance of the mobile device 110 where the product isavailable.

The account recommendation logic 140 may be executed to select therecommended payment account to send to the user as part of the paymentmessage. The recommended payment account may be selected from thepayment accounts that are currently held by the user, including thosethat are provided or otherwise managed by the financial institutioncomputer system 130. The account recommendation logic 140 may alsoselect a new payment account that may be available to the user but hasnot yet been created (e.g., opened, applied for, etc.). In an exampleembodiment, the recommended payment account is selected based on anexpected financial impact to the user, which may be determined based onthe user's overall financial health. For instance, the accountrecommendation logic 140 may recommend the payment account having themost positive expected financial impact to the user based on thepayment. The expected financial impact to the user may be represented bya financial impact score for each payment account, which may be based ona net value associated with the payment for each payment account. Inthis embodiment, the account recommendation logic 140 may determine therecommended payment account based on the payment account having the bestfinancial impact score (i.e., the greatest value to the user).

It should be noted that the recommended payment account in many casesmay not be the payment account alternative having the lowest associatedcost at the time of the payment. In addition to determining the shortterm financial impact of the transaction, the financial institutioncomputer system 130 is also configured to base the recommended paymentaccount on various financial goals provided by the user, includingsavings, retirement, and other long-term goals. Thus, the financialinstitution computer system 130 may recommend a payment account thatprovides benefits related to the user's long-term financial goals ratherthan selecting the payment method having the lowest up-front cost. Thefinancial institution computer system 130 is configured to recommend inreal-time (i.e., prior to making a payment) a payment account for atransaction based on the overall financial health of the user, which mayinclude various user preferences, current account balances and interestrates, financial goals of the user, transaction history, budgetconsiderations, and any other information provided by the user or themerchants, or determined by the financial institution computer system130.

Where the recommended payment account is determined based on thefinancial health of the user, the financial health may be based on anyinformation provided by the user or otherwise determined by thefinancial institution computer system 130 and related to the user. Thefinancial health of the user is intended to provide an account for thecurrent financial state of the user, as well as more holistic measuressuch as financial goals, savings plans, life events, and the like. Thefinancial institution computer system is configured to determine anexpected financial impact based on each selectable payment account.Again, the expected financial impact is intended to account for not onlythe immediate economic consequences of the payment, but also the effectof the payment on the financial goals and other preferences of the user.The expected financial impact may be determined for the user based onusing each of the one or more payment accounts held by the user andprovided by the financial institution computer system 130 to make thepayment. The expected financial impact may be determined based on theuser profile or the merchant profile, or based on any other informationrelated to the associated user and merchant. The expected financialimpact may also be determined based on payment information, such as apayment amount and payment timing. The information may be utilized toproject (e.g., estimate, calculate) a net financial impact for the userbased on a payment to the merchant using a selected payment account.

The account recommendation logic 140 may determine the financial impactscore for each payment account based on information associated with anyof the user (i.e., the user profile), the merchant (i.e., the merchantprofile), the transaction (e.g., payment amount, payment timing, etc.),and the product or service. For instance, the account recommendationlogic 140 may include an algorithm that assigns a particular weight toeach item of information that is associated with the payment. Theaccount recommendation logic 140 may weight each factor at leastpartially according to input received from the user. For instance, foreach payment account, the account recommendation logic 140 may assign aweight to factors related to the user, such as an account balance,available credit, a loan balance, a risk profile of the user such as acredit score, an interest rate associated with a user account, pasttransactions, budgetary goals, upcoming bills, or other financialinformation available to the financial institution computer system 130.Again, the user may choose to place less emphasis on any current orfuture payment amounts in order to meet certain financial goals or planfor future events. The account recommendation logic 140 may also beconfigured to assign a weight to factors associated with the merchant,as well as the transaction. Based on the weighted factors, the accountrecommendation logic 140 may determine a financial impact score for eachpayment account of the user. The score may provide a numericalindication of a negative or positive impact to the user, including theimpact to each of the financial goals of the user. The recommendedpayment account may be based solely on the advancement of one or morefinancial goals of the user, even if selecting the recommended accountwill have a negative economic impact in the short or long-term.

The recommended payment account may also be a new account offered by thefinancial institution computer system 130. For instance, the accountrecommendation logic 140 may determine a projected financial impact fora payment account offered by the financial institution computer system130 based on information related to the user and the financialinstitution computer system 130. The financial institution computersystem 130 may then offer the new account to the user as the recommendedpayment account. Where the new account is a credit-based account, thefinancial institution computer system 130 may provide a credit limit orinterest rate such that the new credit-based account has a betterfinancial impact than any other payment account of the user. Thefinancial institution computer system 130 may also set the financialparameters of any other type of new account in order to provide a betteralternative for making the payment. Upon selection of the new account tomake a payment, the financial institution computer system 130 may openthe new account for the user and provide the new account to the user tomake the payment. In other embodiments, the recommended payment accountmay also be based on a modification to a current payment account, suchas reducing the associated interest rate, increasing a credit limit, ormodifying the payment schedule.

The offer engine 142 may be executed to generate and send an incentiveoffer to a user of the mobile device 110. The incentive offer may beintended to encourage use of the recommended payment account provided bythe financial institution computer system 130. The incentive offer mayinclude requirements related to the merchant, the payment account, andthe user that must be met in order to receive the promised incentive. Inan example embodiment, an incentive offer is contingent upon use of apayment account provided by the financial institution computer system130 (e.g., the recommended payment account), and the payment must bemade to a specified merchant. The incentive offer may include adiscount, rebate, rewards offer, or any other benefit that may beprovided to the user via the financial institution computer system 130.The incentive offer may provide an additional incentive to an alreadyrecommended payment account, or the incentive offer may be provided sothat a payment account provided by the financial institution is best forthe financial health of the user.

The offer engine 142 may generate an incentive offer based on, amongother factors, any of the user, the merchant, and the product orservice. The incentive offer is intended to incentivize use of aparticular payment account by the user, such as a payment accountprovided by the financial institution computer system 130. For instance,the incentive offer may be generated based on information stored on auser profile, which may include information provided by the user as aninput (i.e., user preferences), as well as information collected basedon the user payment accounts. The user profile may include accountbalances, available credit, a risk profile, credit history, pasttransactions, rewards balances, user preferences, and so on. As anexample, if a user rewards balance for a particular payment account isrelatively close to a rewards goal, the incentive offer may include arewards offer intended to help the user achieve the rewards goal. Asanother example, if the balance on a credit card account is relativelyhigh, the incentive offer may include an offer of a reduced interestrate or a credit line increase based on use of the recommended paymentaccount. The incentive offer may also include an overall discount on thecost of the transaction (e.g., a percentage reduction, total reduction,etc.), issuance of a new credit line (e.g., with a lower interest ratethan other payment accounts) based on use of a new credit account, orany other rewards or discounts that may be provided to the user by thefinancial institution computer system 130. Again, the specific type ofincentive offer provided to the user is determined based on informationrelated to the user, including information stored in a user profile,user preferences, past transactions, or any other user informationdescribed herein.

The incentive offer may also be generated by the offer engine 142 basedon a merchant profile, which may include available merchant rewards ordiscount programs, as well as information regarding any relationshipsbetween the financial institution computer system 130 and the merchant.For instance, the incentive offer may incorporate rewards available viathe merchant for certain purchases or additional discounts based on anagreement between the financial institution computer system 130 and themerchant. Similarly, the incentive offer may be based on a type ofproduct or service being purchased. For instance, the incentive offermay incorporate any rewards or discounts that are available via a vendoror provider of a particular product, including any agreements negotiatedwith the financial institution computer system 130. The incentive offermay also include discounts or other benefits for future purchases ofsimilar products.

In some embodiments, an incentive offer may also be provided by themerchant computer system 160. For instance, the message send logic 138and/or the offer engine 142 may be stored at the merchant computersystem 160 and configured to execute in a similar manner to providemerchant offers to the user at the mobile device 110. The merchantoffers may be sent to the mobile device 110 via the beacon 170. Forinstance, the mobile device 110 may receive beacon discovery informationthat is transmitted by the beacon 170. Based on the beacon discoveryinformation, the payment rewards client application 122 may be triggeredto communicate with the financial institution computer system 130 torequest an offer from the merchant. The financial institution computersystem 130 may then request a targeted merchant offer from the merchantcomputer system 160 that may be tied to the recommended payment accountand/or offer incentive provided by the financial institution computersystem 130. The merchant offers may be interpreted by the paymentrewards client application 122 and provided to the user as analphanumeric message. The merchant offer may be based on a relationshipbetween the merchant and the user, or between the merchant and thefinancial institution. The financial institution computer system 130 mayalso receive an indication of the merchant offer and incorporate theoffer into the payment account recommendation.

In some embodiments, the user may be prompted to provide (via the mobiledevice 110) details of a potential purchase, including the type ofproduct or service and an amount for the purchase. This information maythen be utilized by the account recommendation logic 140 and/or theoffer engine 142 to determine the recommended payment account and/or theincentive offer. For instance, the incentive offer may include adiscounted loan or credit line based on the amount of the transaction.The payment message, including the incentive offer, may also be directedto a particular merchant based on a discount or incentive that isavailable for the product or service at that merchant. For instance, adiscounted loan or credit line may be provided to the user based on arelationship between the financial institution and the merchant.

The user profile logic 144 is configured to generate and update aprofile for each user. The user profile may be based on informationprovided by the user (e.g., via the mobile device 110). The user mayprovide user preferences, such as preferred payment accounts, preferredmerchants or merchant locations, preferred products or vendors, and soon. The user may also provide financial goals, such as savings goals,account limits, debt reduction goals, and the like. The user may alsoprovide identifying information, such as address, gender, age, maritalstatus, family information, and so on. The user-provided information maybe used to generate a profile for the user and categorize the user(i.e., by demographic) in order to provide targeted products andservices to the user.

The user profile logic 144 may also incorporate transaction-relatedinformation into the user profile. For instance, the user profile logic144 may collect transaction data for the user and determine the user'spreferred payment accounts, merchants, and products or services based onthe transaction data. The transaction data may also be used to determinethe timing and payment amount of various purchases. For instance, thetransaction data may be used to determine any recurring payments made bythe user, such as bill payments and loan information, including thetiming and payment amount of the payments.

The merchant profile logic 146 is configured to generate and update aprofile for each merchant. The merchant profile may be based oninformation provided by the merchant (e.g., the merchant computer system160). For instance, the merchant may provide merchant preferences,including preferences regarding the type of payment account used tofacilitate a payment to the merchant. The merchant may also providecurrent incentives or discounts that are available based on the paymenttype, the product or service, or other factors. The merchant profilelogic 146 may also receive any information received at the financialinstitution computer system 130 and incorporate the information into themerchant profile. For instance, the merchant profile may includetransaction information involving the merchant. The merchant profilelogic 146 may use the transaction information to determinetransaction-related preferences for the merchant.

The account processing logic 148 may be executed to process the paymentfrom the user to the merchant. The account processing logic 148 may alsobe configured to send updated information to the user profile logic 144and the merchant profile logic 146 based on the payment. The accountprocessing logic 148 may also be used to open a new payment account forthe user, such as when the recommended payment account is a new account.

The financial institution computer system 130 also includes accountsdatabase 150. The accounts database 150 may store details regardingfinancial institution accounts. In particular, the accounts database 150may store each financial transaction that occurred. Each financialtransaction may include the user, the amount of the transaction, and themerchant. The accounts database 150 may store the information accordingto each user. The accounts database 150 may be configured to sendtransaction and other account-related information to the user profilelogic 144 so that the user profile logic 144 may update the userprofile. The offer engine 142 and the account recommendation logic 140may also receive information from the accounts database 150 in order toperform the operations described herein.

The financial institution computer system 130 also includes profilesdatabase 152. The profiles database 152 may store information regardingthe user (e.g., the account holder) and the merchant, including userprofiles and merchant profiles. The profiles database 152 may storeinformation useful for generating incentive offers and advertising thatare selected specifically for the user and for determining a recommendedpayment account for use in making a payment to a merchant. The logicdescribed above may access the profiles database 152 to perform any ofthe operations described herein.

The merchant computer system 160 includes network interface logic 162and a location module 164, which may be implemented in a machine (e.g.,one or more networked computer servers) comprising machine-readablemedia having instructions stored therein which are executed by themachine to perform the operations described herein. The networkinterface logic 162 may include, for example, program logic thatconnects the merchant computer system 160 to the network 180. Thelocation module 164 may provide location information to the financialinstitution computer system 130. The location information may include alocation of the merchant computer system 160 or a merchant locationassociated with the merchant computer system 160. The location module164 may also be configured to interact with the mobile device 110 toreceive merchant location information stored within the beacontransmission data (e.g., identifying information for the merchant) andprocess any information received from the mobile device 110 via thebeacon 170 to determine a location of the merchant.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , a process 200 is shown for providing paymentrewards, according to an example embodiment. The process 200 may beperformed using the payment rewards system 100 shown in FIG. 1 . Inparticular, the process 200 may be performed using any or all of themobile device 110, the financial institution computer system 130, andthe merchant computer system 160 shown in FIG. 1 , including any storedapplications (e.g., mobile applications specific to the financialinstitution or the merchant), logic or other components of the systemsand devices that are described in further detail herein. The process 200may include determining a relative location of a user via the mobiledevice 110, recommending a payment account for making a payment based ona financial status of the user, and providing an incentive offer for theuser make a payment using a payment account provided by the financialinstitution computer system 130 (e.g., the recommended payment account).

At 202 of the process 200, the user and the mobile device 110 areregistered with the payment rewards system 100. For instance, the usermay “opt into” the payment rewards service provided by the financialinstitution computer system 130 by sending a message to the financialinstitution computer system 130 via the payment rewards clientapplication 122 of the mobile device 110. The user may register themobile device 110 in response to a request or an offer received from thefinancial institution computer system 130.

At 204, the registration request is received from the mobile device 110by the financial institution computer system 130. The financialinstitution computer system 130 may also receive additional informationfrom the user, including various user preferences. For instance, thefinancial institution computer system 130 may request additionalinformation from the user when the mobile device 110 is registered. Theadditional information may include preferred merchants or products,preferred payment accounts, preferred user rewards, user financialgoals, or other information relevant to the user's financial health. Forexample, FIG. 3 shows a user interface 300 that may be presented to theuser on the display 114 of the mobile device 110 when the user isaccessing the customer's website 302. As shown on the user interface300, the user can log into the website 302 and access a user profile atarea 304, including various user payment preferences. The user canaccess and modify payment account preferences by interacting with button306, preferred merchants by interacting with button 308, preferredproducts and services by interacting with button 310, user rewardspreferences by interacting with button 312, financial goals byinteracting with button 314, and/or other user preferences describedherein by interacting with button 316. When the user interacts withbutton 318, the user is taken to the home page of the financialinstitution website (or an associated application of the financialinstitution).

At 206, a profile for the user is generated by the financial institutioncomputer system 130. The user profile may be generated by the userprofile logic 144 and stored at the profiles database 152. The userprofile may be generated based on any of the information describedherein and related to the user. The user profile may be based onpersonal information, such as contact information and user demographics(e.g., age, gender, income, marital status, etc.). The user profile mayalso be based on financial information related to the user, such as pasttransactions, account balances, outstanding loans, credit lines, creditscores and other risk profiles, and interest rates. The financialinformation may also include financial goals of the user, such asbudgetary goals, savings goals, account balance limits, and debtreduction goals. The user profile may also be based on user preferences,such as preferred payment accounts, merchants, and products. The userinformation utilized by or stored within the user profile may beprovided by the user (e.g., via the mobile device 110) or the merchantcomputer system 160, received as part of a payment transaction, ordetermined by the user profile logic 144 based on other userinformation.

The generated user profile may include a financial status of the user,which may be determined by the user profile logic 144 based on otheruser information. The financial status of the user is intended toreflect a “financial health” of the user at any time. The financialstatus may be determined based on any of the information describedabove, which may include account balances associated with the user,recent spending behavior of the user, and budgetary concerns of theuser. The user profile logic 144 may be configured to update thefinancial status of the user based on information as it is received. Theuser profile logic 144 may also be configured to determine one or moreuser preferences based on transaction information and other informationprovided by the user, as well as to categorize the user based on userinformation in order to provide targeted products and services.

The generated user profile may also include one or more preferredmerchants. Preferred merchants may be selected by the user or determinedby the financial institution computer system 130 based on the userinformation. For instance, a preferred merchant may be based ontransactional data, including a number of recent transactions, an amountof money paid to the merchant, etc. At 208, the user information is sentto any preferred merchants (i.e., the merchant computer system 160) bythe financial institution computer system 130. For instance, thefinancial institution computer system 130 may notify the merchantcomputer system 160 that the merchant has been selected by the user as apreferred merchant. At 210, the merchant computer system 160 receivesthe user information. The merchant computer system 160 may then provideoffers to the user based on this information. For instance, if the userand/or the mobile device 110 are known to the preferred merchant, themerchant computer system 160 may detect the mobile device 110 and send amessage to the mobile device 110 that includes the offer. The mobiledevice 110 may also notify the financial institution computer system 130that the user is at or near the preferred merchant, and the financialinstitution computer system 130 may then provide this information to themerchant computer system 160. The merchant computer system 160 couldthen send a message to the user, such as by triggering the paymentrewards client application 122 stored on the mobile device 110.

For example, FIG. 4 shows a user interface 400 that may be presented tothe user on the display 114 of the mobile device 110 when the user isaccessing the customer's website 302 (e.g., the payment rewards clientapplication 122). As shown on the user interface 400, the user canaccess a preferred merchants area 402 (e.g., by interacting with button308 of the user interface 300), including a display of selectedpreferred merchants 404, suggested merchants 406, and nearby merchants408. The user can edit or delete a preferred merchant by interactingwith buttons 410 and 412, respectively. The user can also add apreferred merchant by interacting with link 414. For instance, the usermay be able to search for merchants based on location, transactioninformation, user rewards information, or based on any other informationprovided herein. The user can select one of the suggested merchants tobe added to the preferred merchants by interacting with an associatedbutton 416. The suggested merchants may be provided based on a userprofile. For instance, the suggested merchants may be suggested to theuser by the financial institution computer system 130 based on pasttransactions or other account information. The user may see all of thesuggested merchants by interacting with link 418. The user can selectone of the nearby merchants to be added to the preferred merchants byinteracting with an associated button 420. The nearby merchants may be alisting of the merchants closest to the mobile device 110 at any timethat are not already selected as a preferred merchant. The nearbymerchants may also be determined by the financial institution computersystem 130 based on other factors, such as past transactions or otheruser preferences. The user may see all of the nearby merchants byinteracting with link 422.

At 212, the beacon 170 broadcasts beacon discovery information within apredetermined radius. The beacon 170 may be operated by the merchantcomputer system 160 or the beacon 170 may be operated independently ofthe merchant computer system 160 as a separate computer system having atleast a network interface and a processor. The beacon 170 may include aplurality of beacons programmed to transmit various primary identifiersand sub-identifiers that are recognizable by the mobile device 110 forvarious types of triggers. For instance, a plurality of beacons may bepositioned throughout a merchant location in order to transmit specificinformation (e.g., product-based, location-based, etc.) that isreceivable by the mobile device 110. The beacon discovery informationmay be configured to only be received by users of the payment rewardssystem 100. The beacon discovery information may also be targetedspecifically to the mobile device 110. In an example embodiment, thelocator beacons (e.g., the beacon discovery information) are unique tothe merchant so that the merchant may be identified based on the beacondiscovery information. The beacons may also be unique within a merchantlocation, such as based on a sub-identifier transmitted by the beacon.

At 214, the beacon discovery signals are received by the mobile device110. Receipt of the beacon discovery signals provides an indication thatthe mobile device 110 (and thus the user) is within a predetermineddistance of the preferred merchant. The beacon information, includingany primary or secondary beacon identifiers, may be interpreted by themobile device 110. For instance, the payment rewards client application122 stored on the mobile device 110 may be configured to recognizeand/or interpret the beacon identifiers to determine the informationtransmitted by the beacon(s). The interpreted information may triggervarious actions described herein, including by the client application122, at the financial institution computer system 130, and/or at themerchant computer system 160. At 216, the mobile device 110 transmitsthe beacon discovery information and/or any other location informationto the financial institution computer system 130. For instance, themobile device 110 may send GPS, WiFi, or cellular information to thefinancial institution computer system 130 in addition to, or in lieu of,the beacon discovery information. At 218, the location information isreceived by the financial institution computer system 130.

At 218, the location information is received by the financialinstitution computer system 130. The financial institution computersystem 130 may receive location information from the mobile device 110upon the user opting in to receive recommendations and rewards via thepayment rewards system 100. At 220, the financial institution computersystem 130 determines a location of the mobile device 110 (i.e.,location of the user) relative to a merchant (i.e., the preferredmerchant) based on the location information received from the mobiledevice 110. The financial institution computer system 130 may determinewhen the user is proximate to the preferred merchant, such as when themobile device 110 is located within a predetermined distance of alocation of the preferred merchant. The system 130 may also determinewhen the user is at or within the merchant location. The financialinstitution computer system 130 determines the user's proximity to apreferred merchant in order to determine when the user is likely to makea payment. The financial institution computer system 130 may thenprovide payment recommendations and other financial advice based on theuser's financial information prior to the user making a payment and inreal-time.

In other embodiments, the financial institution computer system 130 maysimilarly determine a location of the user relative to a product orservice. The product or service may be determined by the financialinstitution computer system 130, either based on a selection from theuser or determined based on the user profile and other user-relatedinformation. The location of the product or service may be provided bythe merchant computer system 160, the user, or otherwise received by thefinancial institution computer system 130. The user location may also beused to determine a duration of time spent at or within a merchantlocation, or proximate a particular product or service. Again, thefinancial institution computer system 130 is intended to determine whenthe user is likely to make a payment based on proximity to preferredproducts and/or services.

At 222, the financial institution computer system 130 requests amerchant offer from the preferred merchant. The financial institutioncomputer system 130 may notify the merchant computer system 160 of theuser's proximity to the location of the preferred merchant, and thus theuser's likelihood to make a purchase, and request that the merchantcomputer system 160 provide an additional incentive to the user. At 224,the merchant computer system 160 transmits a merchant offer to thefinancial institution computer system 130. The merchant offer may be anytype of reward or discount intended to encourage the user to make apurchase with the merchant. The merchant offer may be based on arelationship between the preferred merchant and the user or thefinancial institution computer system 130. In one embodiment, the userhas a rewards account with the preferred merchant and the merchant offermay include additional rewards or discounts associated with the rewardsaccount. In another embodiment, the financial institution computersystem 130 may “pass on” an incentive based on a relationship betweenthe preferred merchant and the financial institution computer system130, such as a discounted transaction fee agreement or other bulkdiscount or promotion.

In some embodiments, the financial institution computer system 130 isconfigured to generate a profile for the merchant based on informationthat is provided by the merchant computer system 160 and/or the mobiledevice 110. The merchant profile may be generated by the merchantprofile logic 146. The merchant profile may also be generated based onany of the information described herein and related to the merchant. Themerchant profile may include information provided by the merchant, suchas any incentives (e.g., rewards, discounts) associated with themerchant. For instance, the merchant profile may include incentivesbased on a relationship between the merchant and the user, or based on arelationship between the merchant and the financial institution computersystem 130. The merchant profile may include location information forthe merchant, in situations where the merchant computer system 160 isassociated with a plurality of merchant locations. The merchant profilemay also include financial information for the merchant, includinginformation related to payment transactions processed via the financialinstitution computer system 130. The merchant profile logic 146 may useany of the merchant-related information to generate the merchantprofile, and may also utilize the information to generate one or moremetrics associated with the merchant or to determine merchantpreferences such as preferred payment methods.

At 226, a recommended payment account is determined by the financialinstitution computer system 130. The recommended payment account may bedetermined by the account recommendation logic 140. In an exampleembodiment, the recommended payment account is determined based on thefinancial health of the user, including the expected financial impact ofthe payment. For instance, the account recommendation logic 140 mayrecommend the payment account having the most positive expectedfinancial impact to the user based on the payment. The expectedfinancial impact to the user is represented by a financial impact scorefor each payment account. In this embodiment, the account recommendationlogic 140 may determine the recommended payment account based on thepayment account having the best financial impact score. The recommendedpayment account may also be a new account or an existing payment accountwith modified terms.

The account recommendation logic 140 may determine a financial impactscore for each payment account based on information associated with anyof the user (i.e., the user profile), the merchant (i.e., the merchantprofile), the transaction (e.g., payment amount, payment timing, etc.),and the product or service. For instance, the account recommendationlogic 140 may include an algorithm that assigns a particular weight toeach item of information that is associated with the payment. Theaccount recommendation logic 140 may weight each factor at leastpartially according to input received from the user. For instance, foreach payment account, the account recommendation logic 140 may assign aweight to factors related to the user, such as an account balance,available credit, a loan balance, a risk profile of the user such as acredit score, an interest rate associated with a user account, pasttransactions, budgetary goals, upcoming bills, or other financialinformation available to the financial institution computer system 130.Again, the user may choose to place less emphasis on any current orfuture payment amounts in order to meet certain financial goals or planfor future events. The account recommendation logic 140 may also beconfigured to assign a weight to factors associated with the merchant,as well as the transaction. Based on the weighted factors, the accountrecommendation logic 140 may determine a financial impact score for eachpayment account of the user. The score may provide a numericalindication of a negative or positive impact to the user, including theimpact to each of the financial goals of the user. The recommendedpayment account may be based solely on the advancement of one or morefinancial goals of the user, even if selecting the recommended accountwill have a negative economic impact in the short or long-term.

At 228, an incentive offer is generated by the financial institutioncomputer system 130. The incentive offer is intended to encourage theuser to use a particular payment account to make a payment. Forinstance, the financial institution computer system 130 may provide anincentive for the user to user a payment account provided by thefinancial institution computer system 130. The incentive offer may beprovided to encourage use of the recommended account (i.e., to encouragethe user to make a payment to the preferred merchant using therecommended account). The incentive offer may also be provided so that aselected payment account that would not otherwise be recommended absentthe incentive offer (e.g., an account provided by the financialinstitution) becomes the recommended account. For instance, theincentive offer may lower the transactional cost associated with usingthe selected payment account such that the selected payment account isbest for the overall financial health of the user. The incentive offermay be generated by the offer engine 142. The incentive associated withthe incentive offer may be any benefit that may be provided to the userby the financial institution computer system 130, a merchant, or anotherparty associated with the payment. For instance, the incentive mayinclude a discount or other promotion, a rewards offer, a ratereduction, or other benefit related to the payment and/or a paymentaccount of the user. In an example embodiment, the incentive offer isgenerated based on a preferred merchant and a known user having one ormore payment accounts provided by the financial institution computersystem 130. In this embodiment, the incentive offer is generated by theoffer engine 142 such that the offer may be redeemed only as part of apayment to the preferred merchant from one of the identified paymentaccounts.

The incentive offer may be generated based on the user profile in orderto provide a targeted incentive to the user. For instance, the incentivemay include a user rewards bonus where the user is relatively close toachieving a reward or where the user has indicated a preference for userrewards. As another example, the incentive may include a reducedinterest rate on a credit card account where the user has indicated abudgetary goal of lowering the balance of the credit card account. Asanother example, the incentive may include a future discount on aparticular product or merchant based on an indicated user preference.

At 230, the financial institution computer system 130 sends theincentive offer and the recommended payment account to the mobile device110. In an example embodiment, the incentive offer and recommendedpayment account are sent via a text message to the mobile device 110. Inanother embodiment, the incentive offer and the recommended paymentaccount may be presented via the display 114 using the payment rewardsclient application 122. In other various embodiments, the incentiveoffer and the recommended payment account are sent to the user via aninstant message, direct message, e-mail, or another type of electronicmessage that may be sent by the financial institution computer system130 and received by the mobile device 110 of the user.

In an example embodiment, the incentive offer and the recommendedpayment account are sent to the user based on a location of the user(i.e., the mobile device 110) relative to a location of the preferredmerchant. For instance, a text message may be sent to the mobile device110 that states that the user is within close proximity to an identifiedpreferred merchant and provide the incentive offer and the recommendedpayment account for payment to the preferred merchant. The message tothe user may also state an associated financial impact to the user,including any financial goals that may be positively impacted based onthe payment. Similarly, in other embodiments, the incentive offer andrecommended payment account may be sent to the user based on a locationof the user relative to a product or service. The incentive offer andrecommended payment account may also be presented to the user based on arequest of the user or based on the occurrence of an event. Forinstance, the event may be a birthday or anniversary associated with theuser, or the event may be a recurring purchase or payment determinedbased on the user profile.

At 234, the recommended payment account and/or the incentive offer areaccepted by the user and mobile device 110 initiates a payment to thepreferred merchant. At 236, the financial institution computer system130 processes the payment using the recommended payment account andbased on the incentive offer. The payment may be processed by theaccount processing logic 148 at the financial institution computersystem 130. The account processing logic 148 may calculate a paymentamount by applying the incentive offer to the transaction. The accountprocessing logic 148 may then cause the payment amount to be transmittedfrom a payment account of the user to the merchant computer system 160.The account processing logic 148 may also adjust any user accountsassociated with the payment or the incentive. For instance, the accountprocessing logic 148 may adjust a user rewards account where theincentive offer was related to user rewards. The account processinglogic 148 may also adjust the payment account based on the paymentamount. At 238, the merchant computer system 160 receives the paymentvia the financial institution computer system 130.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , a process 500 is shown for providing arecommended payment account, according to an example embodiment. Theprocess 500 may be performed using the payment rewards system 100 shownin FIG. 1 , including the mobile device 110, the financial institutioncomputer system 130, and the merchant computer system 160 shown in FIG.1 , and all logic or other components of the systems and devices thatare described in further detail herein. The process 500 may includedetermining a location of a user relative to a preferred merchant viathe mobile device 110, recommending a provided payment account for theuser to make a payment to the merchant based on a financial status ofthe user, and providing an incentive offer for the user to make thepayment using the recommended payment account.

At 502 of the process 500, the user opts in for a payment rewardsproduct or service (i.e., the payment rewards system 100) provided bythe financial institution computer system 130, by registering the mobiledevice 110 of the user. The mobile device 110 may be registered usingthe payment rewards client application 122, for instance. At 504, thefinancial institution computer system 130 receives the “opt-in” requestand registers the mobile device 110 to the user. By registering themobile device 110, the user agrees to receive messages (e.g., alerts)when in close proximity to preferred merchants or service providers.

At 506, the user, via the mobile device 110, sends user preferences tothe financial institution computer system 130. The user preferences maybe provided to the financial institution computer system 130 via thepayment rewards client application 122, as is shown by way of example inFIG. 3 . The user preferences may include preferred merchants, products,or services, preferred payment accounts, financial goals of the user,preferred user rewards, or any other preferences that are describedherein or that may be relevant to the payment rewards system 100. Inparticular, the user selects favorite (e.g., preferred) merchants andservice providers for receiving payment recommendations. The user mayselect the preferred merchants based on the user's transaction history,which may include payments using any payment accounts provided by thefinancial institution computer system 130, including any credit anddebit cards, ACH payments, or check payments. The user may also make theselections by reviewing transactions for accounts provided by otherfinancial institutions. The transaction information may be provided bythe financial institution computer system 130 via the client application122. At 508, the financial institution computer system 130 stores theuser preferences and associates the user preferences with the user andthe mobile device 110. For instance, the financial institution computersystem 130 may generate a user profile for the user and the preferencesmay be stored in a user profile.

At 510, the mobile device 110 sends mobile device location informationto the financial institution computer system 130. In an exemplaryembodiment, the location information is determined based on a satellitesensor stored on the mobile device 110. At 512, the merchant computersystem 160 sends merchant location information to the financialinstitution computer system 130. At 514, the financial institutioncomputer system 130 receives the location information from the user andthe merchant. At 516, the financial institution computer system 130determines that the mobile device 110 is in close proximity to themerchant based on the location information.

At 518, the financial institution computer system 130 determines arecommended account for making a payment and an incentive offer forusing the recommended account. The financial institution computer system130 determines the recommended account and the incentive offer afterdetermining that the mobile device 110 is in close proximity with thepreferred merchant. The financial institution computer system 130determines the recommendation based on the financial health of the user,which is determined based on the preferences provided by the user. Thefinancial institution computer system 130 is configured to determine thepayment account provided by the financial institution computer system130 that will have the most positive impact on the user's overallfinancial health, taking into account not only the immediate economicimpact of the payment but also the long-term financial goals of theuser. The financial institution computer system 130 may also determinean incentive offer for using the recommended payment account based onthe user preferences. For instance, the user may select a preferred typeof user rewards and the incentive offer may be based on the user rewardspreferences of the user. Where a payment method provided by anotherfinancial institution may produce a more positive impact on thefinancial health of the user, the incentive offer may be determined inorder to improve the impact of using a payment account provided by thefinancial institution computer system 130. The incentive offer may beintended to improve the financial health impact of using a paymentaccount provided by the financial institution computer system 130 sothat use of this payment account is recommended or preferred (i.e.,according to the expected financial health impact to the user) over anypayment accounts held by the user and not provided by the financialinstitution computer system 130.

At 520, the financial institution computer system 130 sends a textmessage to the mobile device 110 that includes the recommendation. Forexample, the text message may state “Hello Ms. Doe, you are within closeproximity to one of your identified stores, Big Clothing, located at XXStreet, Chandler, Ariz. If you plan to shop there today, “FinancialInstitution” will offer a 10% discount made on all of your purchases ifyou utilize a “Financial Institution” payment method. Based on yourcurrent financial health, we recommend using your “FinancialInstitution” debit card ending in XXXX. The discount will apply towhichever “Financial Institution” payment you choose. This in additionto any “Financial Institution” rewards programs you are already enrolledin. Please contact our customer service center at 1-800-555-3557 if youhave any questions. Thank you for being a valued “Financial Institution”customer.”

As another example, the text message may state “Hello Ms. Doe, based onyour preferred notifications, it appears you are currently shopping atone of your favorite merchants, Jim's Marketplace on Riggs Rd. inChandler, Ariz. “Financial Institution” is offering a 3% discount onyour total purchase today if you utilize a “Financial Institution”payment method such as your “Financial Institution” credit card or“Financial Institution” debit card. The discount will apply to whichever“Financial Institution” payment you choose. This in addition to any“Financial Institution” rewards program you are already enrolled in.Based on your current financial health, we recommend using your“Financial Institution” credit card ending in XXXX for today'spurchases. Please contact our customer service center at 1-800-555-3557if you have any questions. Thank you for being a valued “FinancialInstitution” customer.” In other embodiments, the recommendation may besent using any other communication method, including an alert to themobile device 110, an e-mail, or messaging delivered via the paymentrewards client application 122 (e.g., the application that transmittedthe location information).

Referring now to FIG. 6 , a process 600 is shown for providing arecommended payment account, according to an example embodiment. Theprocess 600 may be performed using the payment rewards system 100 shownin FIG. 1 , including the mobile device 110, the financial institutioncomputer system 130, and the merchant computer system 160 shown in FIG.1 , and all logic or other components of the systems and devices thatare described in further detail herein. The process 600 may includedetermining a location of a user relative to a preferred merchant viathe mobile device 110, recommending a provided payment account for theuser to make a payment to the merchant based on a financial status ofthe user, and providing an incentive offer for the user to make thepayment using the recommended payment account.

At 602 of the process 600, the beacon 170 broadcasts beacon discoveryinformation. The beacon 170 may be operated independent of the merchantcomputer system 160, but intended to broadcast discovery informationintended to indicate proximity to the preferred merchant (i.e., themerchant computer system 160). For instance, the beacon 170 may belocated at or near the preferred merchant, including within the merchantlocation, but operating independently from the merchant computer system160. In an exemplary embodiment, the beacon 170 includes a plurality ofbeacons related to a specific merchant but configured to transmitdifferent information. For instance, the plurality of beacons maytransmit discovery information indicating different areas of a merchantlocation or the location of different categories of products orservices.

At 604, the mobile device 110 receives the discovery information fromthe beacon 170, or otherwise recognizes the presence of the beacon 170.In an example embodiment, the beacon 170 is only recognizable by themobile device 110 when the mobile device 110 is within a predetermineddistance of the beacon 170. When the beacon 170 is located within alocation of the preferred merchant, receipt of the beacon discoveryinformation at the mobile device 110 may indicate that the mobile device110 (and thus the user) is proximate the preferred merchant and/or aspecific product or service at the merchant location and should beprovided with a recommendation for payment. In one embodiment, themobile device 110 recognizes the presence of the beacon 170, triggeringuse of an associated application (e.g., the payment rewards clientapplication 122). For instance, the application may be specific to amerchant and triggered based on beacon discovery information indicatingthat the mobile device 110 is at or near a location of the merchant.

At 606, the mobile device 110 transmits location information to themerchant computer system 160 based on recognition of the beacon 170(i.e., receipt of the beacon discovery information). The mobile device110 may also transmit user information along with the locationinformation. For instance, once the beacon 170 is recognized by themobile device 110, the mobile device 110 may transmit to the merchantcomputer system 160 any identifying and/or location information for themobile device 110 and/or the user. In other embodiments, the merchantcomputer system 160 is configured to identify and/or locate the mobiledevice 110 based on transmission of the beacon discovery information bythe mobile device 110.

At 608, the transmitted information is received by the merchant computersystem 160 from the mobile device 110. The information may betransmitted specifically to the merchant computer system 160 by themobile device 110. For instance, the user may intend to receive anincentive offer from the financial institution computer system 130and/or the merchant computer system 160 prior to making a payment. Theuser may then cause the mobile device 110 to send location informationto the merchant computer system 160 to notify any parties within thepayment rewards system 100 that the user is proximate the preferredmerchant. At 610, the merchant computer system 160 determines thelocation of the user based on the information transmitted by the mobiledevice 110. At 612, identifying and/or location information is sent tothe financial institution computer system 130 by the merchant computersystem 160.

At 614, the financial institution computer system 130 receives the userinformation from the merchant computer system 160. At 616, the financialinstitution computer system 130 determines that the user is proximatethe preferred merchant and determines a recommended payment accountand/or an incentive offer based on preferences of the user and theparties to the transaction. At 618, the financial institution computersystem sends the recommended payment account and/or the incentive offerto the merchant computer system 160. At 620, the merchant computersystem 160 receives the recommendation from the financial institutioncomputer system 130. At 622, the merchant computer system 160 transmitsthe recommended payment account and/or the incentive offer to the mobiledevice 624. The merchant computer system 160 may determine a location(i.e., a network address) of the mobile device 110 based on the beaconinformation received from the mobile device 110. At 624, the mobiledevice 110 receives the recommendation.

The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems and programproducts on any machine-readable media for accomplishing variousoperations. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implementedusing existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computerprocessor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or anotherpurpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of thepresent disclosure include program products comprising machine-readablemedia for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or datastructures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example,such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROMor other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or storedesired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions ordata structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose orspecial purpose computer or other machine with a processor. Combinationsof the above are also included within the scope of machine-readablemedia. Machine-executable instructions include, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions. Software implementations couldbe accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule basedlogic and other logic to accomplish the various connection steps,processing steps, comparison steps and decision steps.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularimplementations. Certain features described in this specification in thecontext of separate implementations can also be implemented incombination in a single implementation. Conversely, various featuresdescribed in the context of a single implementation can also beimplemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the implementations described above should not beunderstood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated in a single software product or packagedinto multiple software products embodied on tangible media or shareacross multiple tiers of devices such as remote servers.

Thus, particular implementations of the subject matter have beendescribed. Other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can beperformed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. Inaddition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do notnecessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, toachieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking andparallel processing may be advantageous.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. It should be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail may be made by one of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims. All implementations that come within the spirit and scope of thefollowing claims and equivalents thereto are claimed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method performed by one ormore processors of a computer system, the method comprising: receiving,by the computer system, global positioning system (GPS) locationinformation from a mobile device with a GPS sensor; receiving, by thecomputer system, beacon discovery information when the mobile device iswithin a first predetermined distance of the locator beacon, wherein thebeacon discovery information was generated by a locator beacon withinthe first predetermined distance from the mobile device; determining, bythe computer system, a location of the mobile device relative to amerchant based on the GPS location information and the beacon discoveryinformation; based on the location of the mobile relative to themerchant, determining, by the computer system, that a payment accountrecommendation should be sent to the mobile device when the location ofthe mobile device is within a second predetermined distance of themerchant, the payment account recommendation including a recommendedpayment account for use in a payment transaction with the merchant;generating, by the computer system, an incentive offer for using therecommended payment account for the payment transaction with themerchant, wherein the incentive offer comprises modifying one or morefinancial terms of the recommended payment account, including at leastone of reducing an interest rate, increasing a credit limit, ormodifying a payment schedule of the recommended payment account;transmitting, by the computer system, the incentive offer and therecommended payment account to the mobile device.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the incentive offer and the recommended payment account aretransmitted to the mobile device based on the mobile device beingproximate to the merchant for a predetermined duration of time.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the incentive offer and the recommendedpayment account are transmitted to the mobile device based on the userbeing within a third predetermined distance of a product or servicelocated at the merchant, and wherein the incentive offer is related tothe product or service.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisinggenerating, by the computer system, a user profile based at least inpart on past transactions involving the recommended payment account andinput received from a user associated with the recommended paymentaccount, wherein the incentive offer is generated based on the userprofile.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising generating, by thecomputer system, a merchant profile for the merchant based at least inpart on past transactions involving the merchant and input received fromthe merchant, wherein the incentive offer is generated based on themerchant profile.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the incentive offeris generated based on a pre-existing relationship between the merchantand the computer system.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein therecommended payment account is selected from a plurality of paymentaccounts, the method further comprising determining, by the computersystem, based on the user profile, an expected financial impact to theuser for making the payment using each of plurality of payment accounts,wherein the recommended payment account is selected based on theexpected financial impact of each of the plurality of payment accounts.8. The method of claim 4, wherein the input received from the userincludes real-time information related to a contemplated purchase at themerchant.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommended paymentaccount is a new payment account provided by the computer system for usewith the payment transaction.
 10. A computer system, comprising a serversystem comprising a processor and instructions stored in non-transitorymachine-readable media, the instructions configured to cause the serversystem to: receive location information from a mobile device having aGPS sensor; receive beacon discovery information when the mobile deviceis within a first predetermined distance of the locator beacon, whereinthe beacon discovery information was generated by a locator beaconwithin the first predetermined distance from the mobile device;determine a location of the mobile device relative to a merchant basedon the location information and the beacon discovery information; basedon the location of the mobile device relative to the merchant, determinethat a payment account recommendation should be transmitted to themobile device when the location of the user is within a secondpredetermined distance of the merchant, the payment accountrecommendation including a recommended payment account for use in apayment transaction with the merchant; generate an incentive offer forusing the recommended payment account in the payment transaction,wherein the incentive offer comprises modifying one or more financialterms of the recommended payment account, including at least one ofreducing an interest rate, increasing a credit limit, or modifying apayment schedule of the recommended payment account; transmit theincentive offer and the recommended payment account to the mobiledevice.
 11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the incentive offerand the recommended payment account are transmitted to the mobile devicebased on the mobile device being proximate to the merchant for apredetermined duration of time.
 12. The computer system of claim 10,wherein the incentive offer and the recommended payment account aretransmitted to the mobile device based on the user being within a thirdpredetermined distance of a product or service located at the merchant,and wherein the incentive offer is related to the product or service.13. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the server system isfurther configured to generate a user profile based at least in part onpast transactions involving the recommended payment account and inputreceived from the user, wherein the incentive offer is generated basedon the user profile.
 14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein theserver system is further configured to generate a merchant profile forthe merchant based at least in part on past transactions involving themerchant and input received from the merchant, wherein the incentiveoffer is generated based on the merchant profile.
 15. The computersystem of claim 14, wherein the incentive offer is generated based on apre-existing relationship between the merchant and the computer system.16. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the server system isfurther configured to select the payment account from a plurality ofpayment accounts, wherein selecting the payment account comprisesdetermining an expected financial impact to the user for making thepayment using each of the plurality of payment accounts, wherein therecommended payment account is selected based on the expected financialimpact of each of the plurality of payment accounts.
 17. The computersystem of claim 13, wherein the input received from the user includesreal-time information related to a contemplated purchase at themerchant.
 18. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the recommendedpayment account is a new payment account provided by the computer systemfor use with the payment transaction.
 19. A computer-implemented methodperformed by one or more processors of a computer system, the methodcomprising: identifying, by the computer system, a preferred merchant ofa user with one or more payment accounts, wherein the preferred merchantis identified based on a user profile of the user, and wherein the userprofile is based at least in part on past transactions of the user usingthe one or more payment accounts; receiving, by the computer system,beacon discovery information when a mobile device of the user is withina first predetermined distance of the locator beacon, wherein the beacondiscovery information was generated by a locator beacon proximate to thepreferred merchant and within the first predetermined distance from themobile device; based on the location of the mobile device, determining,by the computer system, that the user is within a second predetermineddistance from the preferred merchant; determining, by the computersystem, a recommended payment account from the one or more paymentaccounts for making a payment at the preferred merchant; generating, bythe computer system, an incentive offer for using the recommendedpayment account for making the payment, the incentive offer comprisingmodifying one or more financial terms of the recommended paymentaccount, including at least one of reducing an interest rate, increasinga credit limit, or modifying a payment schedule of the recommendedpayment account; and transmitting the recommended payment account andthe incentive offer to the mobile device when the location of the mobiledevice is within the second predetermined distance from the preferredmerchant.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the recommended paymentaccount and the incentive offer are transmitted to the mobile devicebased on the mobile device being proximate to the preferred merchant fora predetermined duration of time.